Mukdahan 6.17

Mukdahan is a town and capital of Mukdahan Province, which became Thailand's 73rd province in 1982. In the northern region of the country, on the right bank of the river Mekong, it was formerly a district of Nakhon Phanom Province. The population of the municipal area was 180,600 in the year 2010. Mukdahan is 645 km north-east of Bangkok.EtymologyThe city was established at the mouth of Muk Creek and named Mukdahan from Kaeo Mukdahan, derived from the following: Kaeo แก้ว noun or adjective: glass other than sheet glass; a glass, a tumbler; gem-like, precious, exquisite.Muk มุก noun: mother-of pearl; nacre.Da ดา verb intransitive: to advance along a wide frontHan หาร verb intransitive or transitive: to divide; to be divided.HistoryPrehistoric paintings and other archaeological discoveries show that the area of Mukdahan was the location of ancient communities. The modern history of the city begins late in the Ayutthaya Era (1350-1767). In the years 1767–1770, Prince Kinnari, son of Prince Suriwong, ruler in Ban Luang Phonsim of Savannakhét, established a settlement at the mouth of Muk Creek, across the Mekong from Savannakhét. In the reign of King Taksin, 1768–1782, Prince Kinnari received appointment as Phraya Chandara Sri Surat with a rank equivalent to viceroy. In 1893, Savannakhét District of Mukdahan was ceded to France.